It’s A Unanimous CT Roll Call For Harris In Virtual Pre-Convention Nomination Vote

Voting early and online nomination stems from Republican obstruction over ballot access in Ohio

“So I’ve decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. That’s the best way to unite our nation. I know there is a time and a place for long years of experience in public life, but there’s also a time and a place for new voices, fresh voices, yes, younger voices, and that time and place is now.” President Biden, July 24, 2024

NEW BRITAIN, CT – I voted early and securely online on August 1 for Kamala Harris to be the Democratic nominee for President as one of Connecticut’s 5th Congressional District delegates to the national convention August 19-22. By Monday’s deadline, all 74 delegates from the state had cast a nomination vote for Harris.

Vice President Harris is literally the Democratic nominee for President in a virtual roll call before the gavel comes down in Chicago in accordance with party rules in the aftermath of Joe Biden’s withdrawal. Virtual delegate voting, made necessary because of the pandemic in 2020 when Joe Biden was nominated, became an option of necessity again for Democrats.

The remote vote arose from Republican maneuvers to disrupt the nominating process of the Democratic Party.

Democratic Convention Log – August 5, 2024

For as long as I can remember Democrats and Republicans have traded the months of July and August to hold national conventions. In 1988 when I was a Michael Dukakis delegate Democrats met in July in Atlanta and Republicans followed in August. Partisan and extremist office holders in one state or another were not around then to mess with election laws. Ballot access for a late summer nominee was never an issue until a cult of personality took over the GOP.

As late as late May Ohio’s Republican Secretary of the State backed by the Republican Attorney General ruled the scheduled DNC convention would be too late to nominate for November ballot access. The Republican legislature adjourned without action. While a special legislative session called by Governor DeWine subsequently passed a ballot fix in OH, the uncertainty persisted through early June.

With the ballot interference flap resolved, we can expect a Republican playbook of obstruction, delay and voter suppression tactics to continue on up to November 5th as these new headlines attest:

Amid new ballot drop boxes limits, Florida’s shorter hours cause voting rights worry

Republican threats to sue over Biden’s withdrawal ‘ridiculous’ and “frivolous’

What cannot be obstructed nor suppressed, however, is the rapid mobilization of support for Vice President Harris in the days following President Biden’s decision to “pass the torch to a new generation.” The election has been reset to a new and more promising trajectory. The Democratic convention that I am privileged to attend will be an opportunity to unify and mobilize voters to “choose between moving forward or backward, between hope and hate, between unity and division.”

There are just over 90 days to Election Day to organize and get out the vote.

Post updated on August 5, 2024

John McNamara is an alderman from Ward 4 and the Common Council Majority Leader. He has been sharing stories and writing about local government and the community on his nbpoliticus.com blog since 2006 where this post originally appeared.